I have the America’s Test Kitchen books.  They publish one every year and each book comes with a CD (all episodes from the PBS shows).    I tried many recipes and all of them turned out delicious.

As made tonight in the graphrix (+caycifish) household.  Pulled from May 2008 Shape magazine.

Greek-style Pizza with Ricotta and Feta

Cornmeal for sprinkling
1 tsp olive oil
1 cup chopped fennel
1 10-oz package chopped frozen spinach, thawed
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
1 14-inch whole-grain pizza crust or store-bought pizza dough (we used Boboli)
3/4 cup fat-free prepared marinara sauce
1/2 cup reduced-fat ricotta cheese
3 oz crumbled feta cheese (about 3/4 cup)
4 plum tomatoes, chopped
1/4 cup chopped fresh mint

Place a pizza stone on middle oven rack, turn oven to 500 degrees and let stone heat for 20 minutes. (Alternately, use a baking sheet sprinkled with cornmeal; preheat oven but not sheet to 500 degrees). If using a stone, liberally spinkle a wooden peel or baking sheet with cornmeal.

Meanwhile, heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat.  Add fennel and saute 5 minutes; reduce heat to low. Squeeze spinach to remove excess water and stir into fennel. Season with salt and pepper.

On a lightly floured clean surface, roll dough to form a 14-inch circle. Transfer to prepared peel or baking sheet and slide dough onto heated pizza stone-or just transfer to baking sheet-and cook 5 minutes.  Remove pizza stone or sheet from oven to add toppings.

Spread sauce over crust.  Arrange fennel-spinach mixture evenly over red sauce.  Spoon tiny dollops of ricotta over fennel-spinach mixture.  Sprinkle with feta and bake 12 to 15 minutes more, or until edges are golden.

While pizza cooks, place tomatoes and mint in a bowl and toss to combine.  Scatter mixture over pizza before cutting it into 8 slices and serving.

1 slice: 176 calories, 4 g fat, 2 g saturated fat, 27 g carbs, 7 g protein, 3 g fiber, 128 mg calcium, 2 g iron, 381 mg sodium

Reviews: Next time we will use whole wheat dough instead.  The sugar in the Boboli burned on the bottom.  Graph says it’s a “colorful palette of flavors.“  Graph’s mom says “that’s a keeper!“

Keanu - 26 August 2008 10:27 PM

I have the America’s Test Kitchen books.  They publish one every year and each book comes with a CD (all episodes from the PBS shows). I tried many recipes and all of them turned out delicious.

Keanu, America’s Test Kitchen Cookbooks are 50% off.
Coincidentally, I just received an email from them. 

Cayci, did it beat the BBQ chix pizza ?  And is G’s mom calling the pizza a keeper, or you ? 

Yeah !

Trooper - 30 August 2008 02:15 PM

Cayci, did it beat the BBQ chix pizza ?  And is G’s mom calling the pizza a keeper, or you ? 

Yeah !

Not much will beat that BBQ chicken pizza (at Lucky Strike Lanes for those unaware)!  But this was filling and tasty and healthy at the same time.

And in this instance she was referring to the pizza, although I have it on good authority that she thinks the same of me.

As made tonight in the caycifish household.

CRACK BROWNIES

50 light caramels
1/3 c skim evaporated milk
1 pkg German chocolate cake mix
3/4 c melted butter (no margerine)
1/3 c skim evaporated milk (2nd one)
2 c milk chocolate chips (or semi-sweet if you like)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a heavy saucepan, combine
caramels and 1/3 c evap. milk. Cook over low heat, stirring
constantly until caramels are melted. Grease & flour a 9? X 13? baking pan.

In a large mixing bowl, combine the dry cake mix, the melted butter
and the other 1/3 c evap. milk. Stir by hand until the mixture holds together.
Divide this dough in 1/2 and press first half of dough into greased baking dish.
Bake at 350 degrees for about 8 -9 mins. Remove from oven and sprinkle the choc.
chips over the baked crust. Pour caramel mixture over the choc chips.
Crumble the other half of the dough over the caramel layer.
Return to oven and bake for 20 mins. Remove from the oven and let cool
for 15 mins before cutting into squares. then, put in the refridgerator
and refridgerate for at least 30 mins before serving.

caycifish - 21 September 2008 09:20 PM

As made tonight in the caycifish household.

CRACK BROWNIES

50 light caramels
1/3 c skim evaporated milk
1 pkg German chocolate cake mix
3/4 c melted butter (no margerine)
1/3 c skim evaporated milk (2nd one)
2 c milk chocolate chips (or semi-sweet if you like)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a heavy saucepan, combine
caramels and 1/3 c evap. milk. Cook over low heat, stirring
constantly until caramels are melted. Grease & flour a 9? X 13? baking pan.

In a large mixing bowl, combine the dry cake mix, the melted butter
and the other 1/3 c evap. milk. Stir by hand until the mixture holds together.
Divide this dough in 1/2 and press first half of dough into greased baking dish.
Bake at 350 degrees for about 8 -9 mins. Remove from oven and sprinkle the choc.
chips over the baked crust. Pour caramel mixture over the choc chips.
Crumble the other half of the dough over the caramel layer.
Return to oven and bake for 20 mins. Remove from the oven and let cool
for 15 mins before cutting into squares. then, put in the refrigerator
and refrigerate for at least 30 mins before serving.

And I am high as a mofo from just one of these things. These are certainly not like the cut down crack that I am used to, but there is some seriously good stuff in these. Be careful, ODing on these could lead to food coma, upset stomach, and potentially death. They are just that good!

I just made a jar of this last night. My friend gave me this recipe. She learned how to make it while living in Japan for 6 months after a divorce. I use it on chicken, steaks, tri tips,  as basting while grilling. When not thickened, it is delish for a veggie stir fry. You can store the unused sauce in a tightly sealed jar for a week. After I have learned how to make this, I have never ordered teriyaki chicken/beef at a Japanese restaurant anymore.

Teriyaki sauce makes about 1 cup

1/2 cup soy sauce
1/2 cup sake
1/4 cup mirin
3 Tsp white sugar

1 tsp cornstarch
1 Tsp. water

sprinkle of white sesame seeds

Put the first four ingredients in a saucepan, and bring to a gentle boil over medium heat. Stir till sugar dissolves. If you want to thicken the sauce, mix the cornstarch and water and slowly pour it into the saucepan. Keep stirring till sauce thickens. Since I eyeball my cornstarch + water mix, please increase/decrease the amount according to your preference. Sprinkle with sesame seeds. Cool and use it however you like.

I have also tried using 3/4 cup mirin instead of sake, it is just as good. I use Kikkoman Aji-mirin Japanese sweet cooking rice wine, purchased at 99Ranch, and I think I have seen it at Albertsons, Quail Hill.

This is a simple and easy dessert recipe to WOW your guests. I had the opportunity to dine at Commander’s Palace at Las Vegas before it closed a few years ago. The server was generous enough to give me the recipe to their secret Banana Flambé. I was skeptical at first because it sounded too good to be true! Well, I have been using this delicious recipe ever since,  all my friends were amazed how simple this is. It is also a great way to use leftover, overripe bananas. Enjoy!

Banana Flambé

2 ripe bananas, peeled and cut lengthwise
4 Tsp. Brown sugar
4 Tsp. Butter (1/2 stick)
1 Tsp. Dark rum (e.g. Bacardi or Myers’s)
Scoops of vanilla ice cream

Sliced the cut bananas diagonally. Melt the butter and sugar over low medium heat in a small frying pan. Stir to prevent burning. Add the bananas as soon as the sugar dissolves. Coat the bananas with the sauce. Cook over low heat till the banana slices turn soft.
The following step is for careful and experienced cooks only:

Turn up the heat and splash on the rum for a fiery dramatic effect to impress friends, significant others, family, or self.  Please be careful about not burning your hair and face and hands.
Immediately pour over scoops of vanilla ice cream.

OR
Turn off the heat and pour on the rum. Stir and pour over scoops of vanilla ice cream.

caycifish - 29 August 2008 08:36 PM

As made tonight in the graphrix (+caycifish) household.

Hey are you guys married or a couple? I didn’t know!

That recipe is traditionally known as “Bananas Foster”. It’s delicious.

SoCal78 - 24 September 2008 07:23 PM

caycifish - 29 August 2008 08:36 PM

As made tonight in the graphrix (+caycifish) household.

Hey are you guys married or a couple? I didn’t know!

No… not married, but we are probably referred to as the “IHB couple”. It’s too bad that you are a late comer to the forums, not only would you have a extra dose of snark in your posts, but you would have a good grasp of the history here. Either way, I am glad you found your way here and hope you stick around as long as possible. Oh… and you would know who TiredofBeingHarassed/Provider/Thoughtless etc. is. Back in the day we used that chat thingy link and all hell broke loose in there. We scared away some of the more conservative IHBers back then. Hell… we even managed to scare Troop off a few times. A truly tough cookie to scare off but we did, if you can’t believe that. Before we changed software, there were no PMs, but private messages that could only be seen between the two members who were chatting privately within the thread. There is a thread that started the chat room that can give you idea why it started. Only gawd, the private messengers, and zovall can see what really happened that night. One day I hope Z writes a book about it all, but keeps us all anonymous. It really could be hysterical to look back at one day.

graphrix - 24 September 2008 11:21 PM

SoCal78 - 24 September 2008 07:23 PM

caycifish - 29 August 2008 08:36 PM

As made tonight in the graphrix (+caycifish) household.

Hey are you guys married or a couple? I didn’t know!

No… not married, but we are probably referred to as the “IHB couple”. It’s too bad that you are a late comer to the forums, not only would you have a extra dose of snark in your posts, but you would have a good grasp of the history here. Either way, I am glad you found your way here and hope you stick around as long as possible. Oh… and you would know who TiredofBeingHarassed/Provider/Thoughtless etc. is. Back in the day we used that chat thingy link and all hell broke loose in there. We scared away some of the more conservative IHBers back then. Hell… we even managed to scare Troop off a few times. A truly tough cookie to scare off but we did, if you can’t believe that. Before we changed software, there were no PMs, but private messages that could only be seen between the two members who were chatting privately within the thread. There is a thread that started the chat room that can give you idea why it started. Only gawd, the private messengers, and zovall can see what really happened that night. One day I hope Z writes a book about it all, but keeps us all anonymous. It really could be hysterical to look back at one day.

For the record, I had nothing to do with the shenanigans in a particular thread that led to zovall adding the chat feature. I merely read the public messages the next day like everyone else.  However, it was the chat feature that accelerated real life friendships being forged.  Now when people ask how we met, we both pause as we realize how absurd what we are about to say is.

So you guys did meet here on IHB? Cool! Let’s have an IHB wedding. IR can preside over the ceremony. We can shred the worthless US dollar and throw it as confetti. Seriously, though, I am glad to see some people have made wonderful real-life connections. I sort of know how you feel in that some of my best friends I have met on another site (except they live clear across the country)—but my spouse refers to them as my “imaginary friends” haha.

I noticed that chat feature and have been there a couple times looking to see if anyone is in there and wondering why nobody uses it.

I didn’t even realize there were IHB forums until recently even though I’ve been reading the blog portion every day for probably a year and a half.

The whole time I had been over at Lasner’s blog where I met you (graphix and others) and that is how I found out about IHB… and that’s where I know Thoughtful / provider from too. I knew she was unstable but I didn’t know all-sorts of craziness exploded in the chat section. I guess that explains a lot such as her contempt for the IHB’ers.

I am very glad I found this now! I can’t believe I didn’t notice the links to the forums sooner. If it were a snake - it woulda bit me! Also since I just moved back to the area and don’t know many people here in Irvine at least I know you guys and many of you do live in this area so that is cool.

SoCal78 - 25 September 2008 07:30 AM

IR can preside over the ceremony. We can shred the worthless US dollar and throw it as confetti.

Okay that made me LOL! 

I do make a point of meeting at least some people from online communities I am a part of.  Meetups, conventions, just inviting them to events (cough Oktoberfest cough), etc.

Welcome back!

caycifish - 25 September 2008 07:09 AM

Now when people ask how we met, we both pause as we realize how absurd what we are about to say is.

Just imagine what it would be like if we had to tell people IrvineRenter married us.

Coming soon to IHB—match making services!  Better than craiglist!

If anyone wants to perform marriage ceremonies, you can join the ULC (Universal Life Church) and they’d ordain you as a minister.

http://www.themonastery.org/
http://www.themonastery.org/?destination=mTrainDiscourseMarry
http://www.themonastery.org/catalog/weddingbusinesskit-p-128.html

The best fish I’ve ever made is simple and the recipe is as follows..

3 tablespoons of Soy Sauce, 3 table spoons of honey, 3 tablespoons of vinegar add crushed garlic and shaved ginger to taste, and marinate for 1 hour.

Bake the fish at 350. When you’re cooking the fish, take the remaining marinade and cook it at a high heat to reduce it to a glaze.

Everyone I’ve ever made it for loves it and its really really simple! Serve with fresh snap peas or green beans or most any steamed vegetable.

caycifish - 25 September 2008 07:09 AM

graphrix - 24 September 2008 11:21 PM

SoCal78 - 24 September 2008 07:23 PM

caycifish - 29 August 2008 08:36 PM

As made tonight in the graphrix (+caycifish) household.

Hey are you guys married or a couple? I didn’t know!

No… not married, but we are probably referred to as the “IHB couple”. It’s too bad that you are a late comer to the forums, not only would you have a extra dose of snark in your posts, but you would have a good grasp of the history here. Either way, I am glad you found your way here and hope you stick around as long as possible. Oh… and you would know who TiredofBeingHarassed/Provider/Thoughtless etc. is. Back in the day we used that chat thingy link and all hell broke loose in there. We scared away some of the more conservative IHBers back then. Hell… we even managed to scare Troop off a few times. A truly tough cookie to scare off but we did, if you can’t believe that. Before we changed software, there were no PMs, but private messages that could only be seen between the two members who were chatting privately within the thread. There is a thread that started the chat room that can give you idea why it started. Only gawd, the private messengers, and zovall can see what really happened that night. One day I hope Z writes a book about it all, but keeps us all anonymous. It really could be hysterical to look back at one day.

For the record, I had nothing to do with the shenanigans in a particular thread that led to zovall adding the chat feature. I merely read the public messages the next day like everyone else.  However, it was the chat feature that accelerated real life friendships being forged.  Now when people ask how we met, we both pause as we realize how absurd what we are about to say is.

Ah, the old chat room - the good old days. Good times, good times.

So…  we were at the Anaheim White House semi-recently and had their Pasta e Fagioli Soup.  Sadly, the recipe isn’t found in their cook book (which gives a whole new meaning to the term “food porn”). 

I happened to find a similarly named recipe in The Silver Spoon cookbook, and tweaked it to try to replicate the White House recipe.  It wasn’t quite like the White House, but it was pretty good.

Serves 4 (as a meal)

2 cups dried white beans (or two cans of white beans, ~15 oz each, rinsed, for ease and to save time)
2 Tbsp olive oil (divided as described below)
1 lb sweet Italian sausage (recommend Claro’s)
4 sage leaves
1 clove garlic, smashed
3 cups (approx) strained tomatoes (found at Pavilions, and not at Claro’s, oddly.  I used a box of Pomi that weighed 26.455 oz because that is what was available.  You can substitute tomato sauce, but will likely need less salt, as the strained tomatoes do not contain salt)
Water (enough so that the amount of strained tomatoes plus the water equals 6 1/2 cups)
Swiss chard, torn into pieces (per your preference, but I used three medium leaves)
1 cup dried Ditali or Ditalini pasta (looks like half a macaroni noodle)
Salt and pepper

I used a Le Creuset 4 1/4 qt soup pot.  It was sufficient, but a tad small.

If using dry beans, on the night before you are serving the soup, put beans into a pan and add cold water to cover.  Soak overnight.  Drain.  On the day you are preparing the soup, put the beans into a pan, add cold water to cover, and bring to a boil.  Lower the heat and simmer for about two hours.  Drain the beans.  If using canned beans, on the day you prepare this rinse the beans well and set aside.

Heat your soup-cooking vessel over medium heat.  When warm, add 1 tbsp olive oil.  In the meantime, remove sausage meat from the skins and break up.  Throw away skins.  When the vessel and oil are hot, add the sausage meat and cook, occasionally stirring and breaking up the meat.  When browned and cooked through, remove sausage meat from vessel with a slotted spoon into a bowl lined with one or two paper towels.  Carefully use a paper towel to soak up the oil out of the vessel, but remove as few brown bits as you can. 

While the sausage is cooking, place half the beans into a food processor or blender and puree.  Set aside.  Add the remaining tbsp of olive oil to the pan and heat.  Add sage leaves and garlic, and saute for a few minutes (until aromatic).  Add the bean puree, strained tomatoes, water, the remaining whole beans, and Swiss chard to the vessel.  Season to taste with salt and pepper.  Bring to a boil.  Add the Ditali and cook for 10 to 15 minutes until al dente. 

If you want to make a vegetarian / vegan version, I think you could.  Don’t use the sausage (duh), but I think you will need to compensate with other spices, particularly fennel.

We paired this with a Palmina Alisos, which was very yummy indeed.

Thanks for this Eva. I’ve been searching for recipes that include chard as I have it coming out of my ears. This will go on the menu this week, but will go a little heavier on the chard.

EvaLSeraphim - 02 November 2008 06:40 PM

So…  we were at the Anaheim White House semi-recently and had their Pasta e Fagioli Soup.  Sadly, the recipe isn’t found in their cook book (which gives a whole new meaning to the term “food porn”). 

I happened to find a similarly named recipe in The Silver Spoon cookbook, and tweaked it to try to replicate the White House recipe.  It wasn’t quite like the White House, but it was pretty good.

Serves 4 (as a meal)

2 cups dried white beans (or two cans of white beans, ~15 oz each, rinsed, for ease and to save time)
2 Tbsp olive oil (divided as described below)
1 lb sweet Italian sausage (recommend Claro’s)
4 sage leaves
1 clove garlic, smashed
3 cups (approx) strained tomatoes (found at Pavilions, and not at Claro’s, oddly.  I used a box of Pomi that weighed 26.455 oz because that is what was available.  You can substitute tomato sauce, but will likely need less salt, as the strained tomatoes do not contain salt)
Water (enough so that the amount of strained tomatoes plus the water equals 6 1/2 cups)
Swiss chard, torn into pieces (per your preference, but I used three medium leaves)
1 cup dried Ditali or Ditalini pasta (looks like half a macaroni noodle)
Salt and pepper

I used a Le Creuset 4 1/4 qt soup pot.  It was sufficient, but a tad small.

If using dry beans, on the night before you are serving the soup, put beans into a pan and add cold water to cover.  Soak overnight.  Drain.  On the day you are preparing the soup, put the beans into a pan, add cold water to cover, and bring to a boil.  Lower the heat and simmer for about two hours.  Drain the beans.  If using canned beans, on the day you prepare this rinse the beans well and set aside.

Heat your soup-cooking vessel over medium heat.  When warm, add 1 tbsp olive oil.  In the meantime, remove sausage meat from the skins and break up.  Throw away skins.  When the vessel and oil are hot, add the sausage meat and cook, occasionally stirring and breaking up the meat.  When browned and cooked through, remove sausage meat from vessel with a slotted spoon into a bowl lined with one or two paper towels.  Carefully use a paper towel to soak up the oil out of the vessel, but remove as few brown bits as you can. 

While the sausage is cooking, place half the beans into a food processor or blender and puree.  Set aside.  Add the remaining tbsp of olive oil to the pan and heat.  Add sage leaves and garlic, and saute for a few minutes (until aromatic).  Add the bean puree, strained tomatoes, water, the remaining whole beans, and Swiss chard to the vessel.  Season to taste with salt and pepper.  Bring to a boil.  Add the Ditali and cook for 10 to 15 minutes until al dente. 

If you want to make a vegetarian / vegan version, I think you could.  Don’t use the sausage (duh), but I think you will need to compensate with other spices, particularly fennel.

We paired this with a Palmina Alisos, which was very yummy indeed.